7 Hottest Trends in Media Consumption in Brazil

by Sergio Kligin@US Media Consulting on APRIL 11, 2014 in BRAZIL, MEDIA

The last time we reported on media consumption in Brazil, it was tricky. We had to consult various sources to get at the data, including Motorola Mobility IBOPE and comScore. There was no one source with all the data. In addition, the sources we used did not always have the same standard measure. In other words, these sources did not all break down how many hours a day or per week or per month that Brazilians use various forms of media. While they did in some cases, in others they simply offered a percentage of Brazilians that consume a particular media type.

However, a new study does offer a uniform measure of media consumption for Brazilians. It’s from the Secretaria de Comunicação da Presidência da República, the Communications Secretariat for the Presidency. This study, released in March 2014, is based on a survey of more than 18,000 Brazilians. After reviewing the study, we identified 7 key trends in media consumption in Brazil that media planners, marketers and advertisers can use to sharpen their campaigns.

#1 Brazilians Spend More Time Online Than They Do Watching TV According to the study, Brazilians watch TV an average of 3 hours and 29 minutes per day during the week and 3 hours and 32 minutes a day on weekends. However, Brazilians use the Internet an average of 3 hours and 39 minutes a day during the week and 3 hours and 43 minutes a day on weekends.

#2 TV Still Rules in Brazil Despite the higher per-day consumption of Internet, TV still reaches more Brazilians overall. When asked how often they watch TV, 65% of Brazilians say they watch it every day and only 3% say they never watch TV. In contrast, 53% of Brazilians say they never use the Internet. However, it is important to note that 26% of Brazilians report going online every day and 48% of Brazilians use the Internet 1-7 days a week. In comparison, 60% of Brazilians listen to the radio 1-7 days a week. So as a medium, Internet in Brazil has a weekly consumption that is not far behind that of the top 2 media: 48% for Internet compared to 60% for radio and 65% for TV.

#3 Brazilians Trust Newspaper Ads the Most When asked about the advertisements that they trusted most in different media, 47% of Brazilians said they trusted newspaper ads most or all of the time. The #2 medium in terms of trust in advertising was radio: 42% of Brazilians said they trusted radio ads most or all of the time. Interestingly, ads on TV earned the same amount of trust from Brazilians as radio, i.e. 42%. Ads on blogs earned the most distrust among Brazilians: 76% said they either never trust or rarely trust ads that appear in blogs.

#4 Free TV Still Dominates the Airwaves While pay TV has grown impressively in Brazil to reach more than 18 million subscribers at the end of 2013, this survey shows a significant advantage in penetration for free TV in Brazil. According to the survey results, 67% of Brazilians reported only watching free TV in their homes versus 7% reporting that they only watch pay TV and 24% indicating that they watch both pay and free TV.

#5 Facebook Rules the Internet in Brazil When the Internet users among the Brazilians surveyed were asked which sites they visit the most, Facebook was mentioned by nearly 64% of them. In the #2 spot was Globo.com, mentioned by 7%. Among the top 10 sites mentioned by Brazilian Internet users was the portal iG, which was more popular than sites like Instagram, Twitter or Mercado Livre. Facebook was also the #1 site mentioned by Brazilian Internet users when they were asked which site they use most as an information source, while iG was in the top 10 for this category as well.

#6 Broadcast Media Are Better for Reaching Brazilian Women Speaking strictly in terms of time spent using certain media, Brazilian women listen to the radio and watch TV more than men do. For example, Brazilian women listen to the radio for 3 hours and 14 minutes a day, compared to 2 hours and 59 minutes for men. Brazilian women watch TV for 3 hours and 47 minutes a day during the week, compared to 3 hours and 10 minutes a day for men. On weekends, Brazilian women watch TV for 3 hours and 38 minutes a day, compared to 3 hours and 26 minutes for men. Why is this important? One reason is that the income of Brazilian women has grown by 62% over the past 10 years, compared to just 39% for men. In addition, women make 80-90% of purchase decisions in Brazilian homes when it comes to beauty products, home décor, food and childcare. Brazilian women also make 62% of the purchase decisions when it comes to male hygiene products. Other studies have shown that married men in Brazil indicate that their wives generally are the ones who decide on supermarket purchases, the clothes that men wear, the family car, the computer and the travel destinations of the family when they go on vacation.

#7 PCs Are Still the Top Device for Accessing the Internet in Brazil When asked which device they use to access the Internet, 84% of Brazilian Internet users in the survey said they use computers and 40% said they use cell phones. Only 8% of Brazilians said that they use tablets to access the Internet.